Circular segmented sighting mechanism

ABSTRACT

Circular segmented flanges extend radially outwardly from the gun barrel, their length and radii being such that, when longitudinally alligned one with the other and viewed, a perfect circle is seen by the viewer.

United States Patent Kilpatrick July 10, 1973 CIRCULAR SEGMENTED SIGHTING [56] References Cited MECHANISM UNITED STATES PATENTS [76] Inventor: David D. Kilpatrick, 1202 Rigel 2,256,4ll 9/1941 Russell 33/47 Drive, Port Hueneme, Calif. 9304] 3,500,545 3/1970 Chivers 33/47 [22] Filed: 1971 Primary ExaminerLouis R. Prince [21] App]. No.: 103,875 Assistant Examiner-Steven L. Stephan Related U S Application Data Attorney-R. S. Sciascia and Paul N. Critchlow [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 767,935, Oct. I6, 1968, 57 BSTR C abanduncd' Circular segmented flanges extend radially outwardly from the gun barrel, their length and radii being such 'g 'i' gz' 2 533 that, when longitudinally alligned one with the other [58] Field g 33/57 233 and viewed, a perfect circle is seen by the viewer.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures mmmmwom 4. 3.744.143

' FRONT SIGHT REAR SIGHT INVENTOR. v

DAVID 0. KILPATRICK' CIRCULAR SEGMENTED SIGI-ITING MECHANISM The present invention relates to gun sights and the like and is a continuation of application, Ser. No. 767,935, filed by the present inventor Oct. 16, 1968, now abandoned.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for govern-mental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Commonly used non-optical sights include a variety of designs such, for example, as the English open sight, the square sight, the Buckhorn, the rear peep front blade and the peep sight. Each of these may serve its own purpose but all are somewhat deficient at least to the extent that they obscure a portion of the field of view immediately surrounding the target. For example, in any sighting or aiming operation the eye usually is fixed on the target and the sight then is moved into the field of view. To the extent that the sight itself obstructs all or part of the crucial field of view contiguous with the target, the speed, efficiency and the accuracy of the aiming operation is correspondingly reduced. Further, most of these sights are so constructed that the front sight mechanism is obscured when it is not precisely aligned with the rear sight and, to remedy this difficulty, reliance must be placed upon special proprioceptive cues or upon visual search to initiate the alignment process. One particular sight disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 2,256,41 l issued Sept. 16,1941 to G. D. Russell seeks to avoid the problem of blocking or obscuring the target by providing a circular sighting mechanism which encompasses the target. However, Russells circle apparently is sized to closely fit around the target and centering is achieved-by the close fit. As will become apparent, any procedure requiring a close and precise fit of the circle or any other sighting mechanism on a target is relatively slow and cumbersome compared with the sighting principle employed in the present invention.

THE OBJECTS One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a sighting mechanism formed of front and rear sights so arranged as to permit an unobstructed view of the target and its contiguous surroundings.

Another object is toachieve the unobstructed view of the target without requiring the eye to be near a sighting ape rture. r

A further object is to provide a sighting mechanism of the type under consideration which is relatively simpie to the extent that it does not require unnatural perceptual aids for accuracy or for sight-alignment purposes.

Another important object is to provide a sighting mechanism which relies wholly upon a capabilityintrinsic in the operator to estimate with a high degree of accuracy the exact location of the center of a circle.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These and other objects are accomplished by providing a sighting mechanism formed primarily of a pair of arcuate flanges extending radially outwardly from the gun barrel or other object upon which the sighting mechanism may be mounted. The flanges provide the front and rear sights of the mechanism and they are in the form of segments of a circle so arranged and mounted that, when the planes of the two circular segments are held perpendicular to the line of sight and at a predetermined distance from the eye, the arcuate flanges appear to complement one another to form a perfect circle. In sighting, the circle is superimposed upon the target so as to provide a wholly unobstructed view. The unobstructed view, in turn, permits the user to locate the target at the precise center of the sighting circle. In other words, the encircling of the target capitalizes on the intrinsic capacity of the human eye to locate accurately the center of the circle and to position the target at its center. To insure reliance upon this intrinsic capacity, the flanges which form the circle are sized to provide a circle that is substantially larger than the sighted target area. The relatively large circle assures a radial spacing between its circumference and the target area and this requires the user to employ the intrinsic centering capacity of his eye in determining the precise center of the target.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gun barrel showing front and rear sights formed in accordance with the present invention mounted on it;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of an optical sighting operation utilizing the present front and rear sights, this illustration defining certain critical dimensions employed in locating the sights on the barrel;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are end views of the rear and front sights respectively, these figures also illustrating diagrammatically certain critical dimensions of the sights, and

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the circle formed by the aligned sights and further showing a modified form of the sights. I

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1, front and rear sights l and 2 are shown mounted on a gun barrel 3 which, insofar as the present purposes are concerned, may be considered as the barrel of a pistol, a rifle or other relatively elongate members or devices designed to be aimed or pointed at a target. The actual mounting of the sights may be-accomplished in any known manner such as, for example, the provision of dovetailed base portions 4 and 6 capable of being received and locked in suitable grooves formed in the barrel. Details of the mountings are not illustrated since, as indicated, they are well-known and, of course, will vary with theparticular type of instrument being produced. If desired, the sights can be movably mounted to permit lateral or angular adjustment such as occasionally may be needed to produce accurate longitudinal alignment one with the other, such an alignment being a critical factor in the present arrangement.

Sights l and 2 are quite simple in structure consisting essentially of their bases 4 and 6 and of arcuate flange members 7 and 8. Preferably, flange members 7 and 8 are semi-circular although other segments of a circle may be employed, the main consideration being that, when aligned and viewed with the eye ina sighting operation, the arcuate lengths of both members match or complement one another to form an essentially complete circle. Also, as will be noted, flange members 7 and 8 are on opposite hands so as to face one another and thus permit the formation of the circle. Further, the sights are longitudinally aligned and so disposed with respect to the gun barrel that, when the gun is aimed, the sights project in a direction perpendicular to the line of sight to the target.

When such a sighting mechanism is employed the eye of the marksman may be fixed on the target and the sight moved into the field of view without itself obscuring portions of the field continuous to the target. The segments of the circle readily are aligned with each other and the circle quickly superimposed about the target. Finally and most significantly, an accurate aim can be achieved almost instantaneously since the eye of the marksman immediately fixes the center of the circle. It thus becomes unnecessary to move cross hairs or other accessory perceptual aids directly onto the target and, as already has been suggested, such aids not only are relatively difficult to align but, in a number of cases, they obscure critical areas and may present difficulties in initiating the alignment process.

Obviously, to capitalize on this intrinsic ability of the human eye, it is essential that the aspect of a perfect circle be formed about the target and to permit this aspect to appear to the marksman it is important that the front and rear sights have a unique relationship one to the other. This relationship, in turn, is a function of the distance from the eye to the rear sights. In other words, in the present sighting arrangement there is a design distance from the eye to the rear sight although, of course, this distance will vary depending upon the type of device on which the sights are mounted.

Referring to FIG. 2, it will be noted that the design distance between the eye and the rear sight is designated D,. Other critical dimensions essential to permitting the aspect of a perfect circle include the dimension D, which is the distance between the eye and front sight 1 as well as radii r,, r and a,, a which, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, are the radii of the inner and outer edges of both the rear and front sights. However, although these dimensions are significant when considered in a relative sense, it will be appreciated that substantial variation can occur to the extent that individual dimensions can be arbitrarily selected over a large range of practical values. More specifically, design considerations for the present sighting arrangement may employ a ratiometric relationship between the eye distances of the front and rear sights as well as the radii of the inner and outer edges of those sights. Thus, in these considerations two equations can be employed, the first equation being which simply states that the ratio between the radius of the inner edge of the rear sight and the distance of the rear sight from the eye should equal the ratio between the radius of the inner edge of the front sight and its distance from the eye. When such an equation is employed, the inner radii of the front and rear flanges will complement one another to form the desired circle when the planes of the two circular segments are held perpendicular to the line of sight and at the designed distance from the eye. The same applies to the outer radii since the formation ofa perfect outer circle by the outer radii also is significant to the present invention. Thus, as has been stated, the present invention relies primarily upon the formation of a perfect circular aspect to take advantage of the human ability to estimate the exact location of its center. To assure the complementary matching of the outer radii, the following equation may be employed r /D a /D which, it will be noted, is essentially the same equation as that used for the inner radii.

Design considerations, however, should be concerned with practical values which can be arbitrarily selected over a substantial range. For example, the radius of the inner circle is expected normally to subtend no more than l of sight angle thus making the inner diameter of the sight subtend no more than 2 which approximates the extent of foveal vision. Thus, if it is desired to use a certain dimension for the inner diameter of the sight, the correct distance of the sight from the eye might be the distance at which the 2 foveal vision subtends the desired diameter. Conversely, if a certain distance is desired, the diameter can be varied to assure that it is no more than 2.

Another important design consideration is that the flanges be made sufficiently large relative to the intended use of the gun to provide a sighting circle that is substantially larger in circumference than the largest area to be sighted. For example, when the sight is adapted for use on a conventional rifle the apparent circle should have a diameter of about one half inch to assure a radial spacing between its periphery and the target are being sighted.

The present sighting arrangement further can be improved by use of some contrasting color on the circular segments. In practice, an arrangement such as illustrated in FIG. 5 may be employed, it being noted in FIG. 5 that a gold stripe 10 is employed around the upper half of each of the circular segments. The width of the stripe may be approximately one half of the width of the segments and the sighting further is improved if the gold stripe is added along the inner edge of the vertical base 4 of front sight 2. If these sights are to be used at night, they also may incorporate phosphorescent or luminescent coatings so that the eye, even in the dark, can detect the perfect circle of the pair of sights and select its center. If desired, a double sight can be constructed to permit aiming with both eyes although, in this instance, a parallax adjustment will be required and the parallax adjustment can be calibrated to provide a measure of the range of the target object.

The use of the present sighting arrangement has been described in some detail. Its principal advantages are that it is unnecessary for the eye of the marksman to be close to the aperture of the rear sight which, as will be recalled, is one of the disadvantages of the so-called peep sight. Of at least equal importance, the sight is of a type in which the eye can be fixed on the target and the sight then moved into the field of view without blocking contiguous portions of the target. Unusually rapid sighting can be accomplished since it is only necessary to superimpose the circle formed by the complementary circular segments over the target and the eye instantaneously selects the precise center of the circle due to the human ability to estimate the location of a center of a circle. Other notable advantages lie in the unusual simplicity of the present sight in that it avoids cross hairs and other perceptual aids which not only complicate the structure, but sometimes introduce time delays in placing, for example, the cross hairs precisely over the target. In brief, the present sighting arrangement provides not only an unusual simplicity but a simplicity which itself facilitates and improves the accuracy of the aiming operation.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

I claim:

1. Sighting mechanism for centering the bore axis of a gun barrel on a target, said mechanism including:

a front sight,

a rear sight,

said sights being carried by said gun barrel in a predetermined spaced relationship,

each of said sights being formed of a base support member mounted on said gun barrel and a single arcuate flange shaped as a segment of a circle, the flanges extending outwardly from said support member in a free-standing disposition and in a direction radial to said bore axis of the gun barrel, and

said flanges being supported solely by the base members and being so aligned one with the other and so positioned on the gun barrel that the arcuate curvatures have a common axis paralleling the bore axis of the gun,

the shaping and positioning of the flanges also being such that the flanges when sighted along said common axis appear to complementarily form substantially a complete circle about a target disposed in said line of sight,

said flanges being sized for forming a complete circle substantially larger than a distance target whereby said front and rear sights can be aligned to align said longitudinal axis of the flanges and said target then centered by moving said common axis into alignment with the target, the accuracy of the centering relying wholly upon the capacity of the marksman to estimate the exact center of the circle.

2. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said apparent circle has a diameter of about one half inch. 

1. Sighting mechanism for centering the bore axis of a gun barrel on a target, said mechanism including: a front sight, a rear sight, said sights being carried by said gun barrel in a predetermined spaced relationship, each of said sights being formed of a base support member mounted on said gun barrel and a single arcuate flange shaped as a segment of a circle, the flanges extending outwardly from said support member in a free-standing disposition and in a direction radial to said bore axis of the gun barrel, and said flanges being supported solely by the base members and being so aligned one with the other and so positioned on the gun barrel that the arcuate curvatures have a common axis paralleling the bore axis of the gun, the shaping and positioning of the flanges also being such that the flanges when sighted along said common axis appear to complementarily form substantially a complete circle about a target disposed in said line of sight, said flanges being sized for forming a complete circle substantially larger than a distant target whereby said front and rear sights can be aligned to align said longitudinal axis of The flanges and said target then centered by moving said common axis into alignment with the target, the accuracy of the centering relying wholly upon the capacity of the marksman to estimate the exact center of the circle.
 2. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said apparent circle has a diameter of about one half inch. 